


A Murder Most Fowl

by Lyra_Kero



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cute, Getting Together, M/M, Misunderstandings, Neighbors, They both have a cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2019-04-20 19:06:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14267607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyra_Kero/pseuds/Lyra_Kero
Summary: Lance wakes up to find his yard is a crime scene and the number one suspect is his cute neighbor's cat.





	A Murder Most Fowl

**Author's Note:**

> I literally only wrote this because the title of this made me smile.  
> Then I realized that "fowls" mostly just refer to chickens and things like that.  
> But whatever.

Lance had a lovely morning habit. He’d wake up, brush his teeth, take a shower, check his face for any problem areas, feed his wonderful cat Duchess, feed himself, then go into the backyard to tend to his garden and refill the small bird feeder. Maybe he’d get lucky and see, just over the fence, his cute neighbor mowing the yard or just sitting and enjoying the sun, either sketching or writing or reading. Those days were even better.

But today was not one of these days. Not a day where he’d catch Cute Neighbor’s eye and exchange hellos or chat idly about their lives. Oh no. Today was terrible. Sure, it started fine. He woke up and brushed his teeth. Took a shower and was pleased to see no areas he needed to tend to on his face. Duchess was curled up on her cat tower bathing herself until she saw her human walk into the kitchen and trotted behind him, meowing softly until her food was placed before her. He, himself, made just eggs and toast, not feeling up to doing much for breakfast. It was when he stepped outside to his garden, Duchess pouncing out through the small catdoor to follow, that he realized something was wrong.

 

The bird feeder, a pretty spiral design that had ornate flowers around the top and base, was knocked out of the tree, laying open (but thankfully not broken), bird feed scattered around as well as feathers of bright red. Tiny footprints could be made out in the fallen seeds and Lance turned his head towards where the prints had seemed to walk off. Over to Cute Neighbor’s yard. And… oh well that’s just lovely.  
Lance could just make out a bright red wing sitting on the ground.

 

Okay, yeah. No. His nose wrinkled in disgust as he looked back down to his bird feeder, gently picking it up and taking it to the back porch where he could refill it, gently shooing his cat back into the house so she wouldn’t get into the mess. About the time he managed to heft the bird feed bag up, the back door of his neighbor’s house opened and out walked Cute Neighbor himself, his hair tied back today, wearing a tanktop and shorts that clued Lance in on that he was about to mow the yard, because he only ever dressed like that when he mowed the yard. Those thighs looked so good in those shorts. Lance wanted to ….

No. You stop that, that man is harboring a killer!

 

With a huff, Lance set the bag back down and walked over to the fence, determined. “Hey!”  
Cute Neighbor looked over, dark eyes flashing with recognition as that sweet, small little smile Lance loved spread across his lips. Lance wanted to kiss it off.

_Knock that shit off, brain._

“Hi.” Cute Neighbor said, hands moving to fuss with the fringe of his hair, tugging at it slightly before tucking it behind his ear. Lance noticed he did that a lot when they talked. It was cute. “It’s, uh, it’s a nice day today.”  
“Yeah, it is.” Lance said, momentarily forgetting that he was on a mission. “I think it’s supposed to rain later this week.” Cute Neighbor nodded in agreement.  
“Yeah. It’s why I’m going to mow today. Instead of later. Because of the rain.” he began to fidget slightly, his cheeks turning a faint pink color as he glanced away.

Lance also looked away, because he felt overcome with the urge to hop the fence and tackle Cute Neighbor down to the ground and kiss him. Looking away, however, made him see the mess that was the crime scene, and his eyes traced back to the cardinal’s wing sitting in his yard.  
 _Right._

“Hey, listen,” Lance looked back over to Cute Neighbor and pointed a finger, eyes narrowed. “Your cat’s nice and all, but I’ll have you know that he’s a convicted killer.” Cute Neighbor now looked back over to Lance in confusion, “Red also left a mess over here that I had to clean up and I’m kind of mad about that.”

“Red?” Cute Neighbor blinked, eyebrows knitting together. “Do you mean Marmalade?”  
Now it was Lance’s turn to pause. “Uh, is… that your cat’s name? Orange and white and bushy and kind of ragdoll?” Cute Neighbor nodded. “Your friend,” at _friend_ , Lance raised his hand to a bit over his own head, indicating height, “calls him Red.” Cute Neighbor snorted.

“Shiro can’t remember my damn cat’s name to save his life, so he calls him Red based off his fur color.” he said (Keith. Lance’s brain finally reminded him that Cute Neighbor had a name and it was Keith.)  
“Your friend can’t remember your cat’s name?” Lance asked, raising an eyebrow, and Keith shook his head.  
“No. He’s a mess.” Keith now walked over to the fence and peered over into the yard, frowning a bit. “Also, Marmalade was inside all night, so it wasn’t him. I did find a dead bird on my back porch, though.” He made a face, “I nearly stepped on it when I came out here.” Pointing, Lance followed his finger and he did, indeed, see the bright red corpse of a bird. “I was just going out into the shed to grab some gloves to throw it away.”

 

Lance stared blankly, his mind racing to try and figure out what was going on. “So… your cat isn’t a cold-blooded killer?”  
“Nope.” his neighbor leaned against the fence. That was a good lean. A nice lean. Lance wanted to oggle, but there were pressing matters at hand. Like who the hell killed a bird and tried to frame Keith’s cat? Maybe it was a different neighbor’s cat?

But then why did it leave the bird at Keith’s back door?  
Maybe a stray?  
That left the same question.

“Uh, sorry.” Lance muttered, and Keith, sweet Keith, smiled and laughed softly.  
“It’s fine. If I was in your shoes I’d probably think it was your cat, too.” he said, his smile widening slightly.  
“My cat’s named Duchess.” Lance blurted, and Keith laughed again.  
“She’s that really gorgeous white one, right?” he asked, watching as Lance nodded. “She seems sweet.”

“She’s spoiled is what she is.” the taller man smiled more, relaxing as the two fell into an easy conversation about their cats. It was when a quiet meow reached their ears that the two finally looked away from each other. The large, fluffy orange and white ragdoll was peering up to his human, green eyes blinking slowly before he gently raised onto his back legs and stretched up Keith’s leg, an obvious request to be picked up.  
Keith smiled as he knelt down and lifted him, laughing softly when Marmalade’s front paws went on either side of his neck, clinging to him much like a child would, rather than how a cat tended to be picked up. Watching the cute neighbor laugh and coo at his cat, though?  
“That is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.” Lance murmured, staring at the two of them, smiling more.

 

“Yeah. He’ll let you pick him up normal, but he always ends up like this eventually.” Keith said, gently adjusting his arms so he could support the cat’s lower body, gently petting his head. “Marmalade, tell this nice guy that you didn’t do anything bad.” he said, turning so the cat’s face was directed at Lance. Marmalade just blinking before turning his head into Keith’s shoulder.

Lance cooed. “I’m sorry I ever doubted you, sweetie.” he said, reaching over to gently scratch behind one of his ears, earning a purr. He watched as those little white paws flexed and tensed as he clung to the back of Keith’s shirt, before his human turned back around.  
“I don’t know,” he murmured, looking to the taller man, “I think he’s pretty upset you accused him of such a thing.” he smiled, glancing off to the side.

“Whatever can I do to make it up to him?” Lance asked, smiling brightly, watching as the other man fidgeted slightly, looking down as he continued to pet his cat.  
“Maybe,” Keith began to chew on his lip nervously, his eyes flickering up to Lance’s before dropping away again, “you could take me out somewhere?”

 

Lance was certain Keith heard the sound of his brain frying. Lance heard it. It sounded like braking tires and a rubber band snapping into place. He also was aware of the fact that his jaw had dropped and he was probably staring at Keith in a very not attractive way. Especially when Keith’s cheeks erupted in a vibrant red and began to quickly backpedal. “I mean, you don’t… shit, never mind. Sorry, I’m.. y-you don’t have to talk to me anymore, I understand. I just fucked up and assumed--”

“YouImedinnerFridaymoviefunkiss?” Lance was impressed that he’d been able to get his mouth to move, but was deeply upset that his planned response of _how about dinner and a movie this Friday_? came out horribly mangled. He shook his head, clearing his throat. “I-I mean, I… does Friday work for you?”

Keith peeked back over to him, his bangs falling into his face once more. Lance’s hand twitched with the urge to brush them back. “Friday’s good.” he said softly, still red but smiling softly. “Um, what time?”

“Eight?” Lance began to smile once more. “I mean, it’ll depend on what movie we go see, but… eight sounds good right?”  
“Yeah,” the dark haired man said, “eight sounds good.” he looked down to his cat again, rubbing his back. “Um, I’m… gonna go throw that bird away, now.”

Not the most eloquent way to end a conversation, but Lance scored a date. He’ll accept it. “See you around?”  
“I mean, I do live next to you.” Keith teased, looking back up to him. “But, yeah. I’ll see you.”

 

Lance found himself staring as Keith left, carrying his cat back into the house, before he finally pushed himself from the fence to take care of his own yard’s mess.

 

Back inside, he saw Duchess sitting on her cat tower, curled up in a sunspot, and smiled, walking over to pet her. “Daddy’s got a date, sweetie!” he said, excitedly, gently moving to lift her from her spot. She meowed, easily going with him and curling up in his arms, purring as he began to pet her. He began to dance with her, but stopped when something caught his attention. There on her perch was a single, bright red feather.

 

He froze, before pulling his cat back to look at her. “Duchess?” he said, slowly.  
Duchess’s tail flicked as she meowed.

 

Well. Keith didn’t have to know that it was actually _he_ that was harboring the killer.  
Besides, it all worked out in the end.


End file.
